Midwest residents are keeping their eyes on the skies this summer, with dozens of strange reports beaming into the local UFO research office.
In November of 2004, paranormal believer Barb Campbell established Saskatchewan’s first UFO research centre in her hometown of Maidstone, but she may have got more than she bargained for in her not-for-profit venture. Animal mutilations, strange lights, crop impressions and fireballs are among the 29 X-File-worthy reports the Northwest Saskatchewan UFO Research Centre has fielded since January of this year, and in 2004 the NWSURC reported more than 50 unusual incidents and sightings. All of this year’s sightings have occurred in or around the communities of Gurnsey, Lanigan, Lloydminster, Maidstone, Melfort, Midale, Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Paradise Hill, St. Walburg, Prince Albert, Qu’Appelle, Regina, Saskatoon and Tisdale, but Campbell has also received reports from as far away as Idaho.

     “The beginning of the year seemed slow, but sightings have picked up this summer,” said Campbell. “All my reports are pretty incredible … and I’m very interested in some of these cow mutilation cases.”

     This past June, Paradise Hill rancher Ray Riguidel discovered one of his cows mutilated in surgical fashion on a pasture near his farm, and although he isn’t prepared to point the finger at aliens, Riguidel swears whatever butchered the animal could not have been human.

     “When you see a cow go down, you go look, but I didn’t have to look twice,” said Riguidel in a previous interview with the Booster. “There was a guy with me, and we both popped our eyes.

     “I’ve heard about (cow mutilations) before, but it never really sunk in. But it’s sunk in now. It’s real.”

     Fernand Belzil, a rancher from St. Paul, has been investigating and compiling information on cow mutilations for several years. Belzil visited Riguidel’s farm after the mutilation discovery, where he took samples from the animal to be tested in a U.S. laboratory and he is still awaiting the results of those tests.

     An unnamed Maidstone-area witness recently spotted an object matching the description of another object suspected to be responsible for crop circles discovered in southern Saskatchewan earlier this year. And in Maidstone, an individual reported seeing an object resembling a satellite suddenly stop in the sky, turn on a very bright light for a few seconds, then switched it off again before continuing north.

     There have been several sightings in the Maidstone area since 1963 where witnesses reported seeing cylindrical, spherical, rainbow and cigar-shaped objects in the sky.

     When receiving a report, Campbell typically interviews the witness, visits the sight, and photographs any possible evidence of unusual activity, and every effort is made to eliminate the possibility of a hoax or false report.
Witnessing several unusual sightings herself, Campbell said she has been a believer in the unknown for as long as she can remember, but many of the reports she receives each month continue to astound her.

     “I’ve always believed there is life out there beyond our world. As a kid, I saw things flying around, but I never thought of UFOs,” she said. “I’ve always kept an open mind, but the more I learn about all this, it still blows my mind.”

     Campbell will be speaking at the first-ever What The Frick Is Going On In Saskatchewan? conference in Saskatoon on Oct. 22. Joining her will be Belzil to discuss cattle mutilations, Beata Van Berkom will give a presentation on crop circles, and a man who calls himself Earthwalker will discuss and hear accounts of alien abduction.

     Campbell encourages anyone who has witnessed any unusual activity, recent or past, to contact her by phone at (306)893-4009, or e-mail her at www.nwsurc@yahoo.ca.

     “I don’t care how long ago it was. It’s all very important,” she said. “I’m looking for similarities and patterns. I’m not just collecting. I’m hoping that one day we’ll know ‘What are these things?’ I have a hard time believing they are just military experiments.”

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